En el marco del Congreso Anual de la Spanish Drug Discovery Network (SDDN), que se celebrará los días 22 y 23 de octubre en la Universidad de Navarra, se organiza esta jornada previa con el objetivo de visibilizar el ecosistema biotecnológico de Navarra, con especial foco en el ámbito de la investigación y el desarrollo de nuevos fármacos.
La jornada, organizada por la SDDN y CIMA / Universidad de Navarra en colaboración con Navarra Health Cluster, está pensada como una oportunidad para que los asistentes al congreso –principalmente perfiles investigadores tanto del ámbito académico como empresarial– puedan conocer de primera mano el potencial científico, tecnológico e industrial del entorno navarro, tanto desde la perspectiva pública como privada.
Esta actividad es gratuita y está incluida con la entrada al congreso.
09:00 – 09:30 Welcome and presentation of the XVIII SDDN Meeting
09:30 – 11:30 Session 1: Drug Discovery Stories I
Chair: Ignacio Sancho (INBISTRA)
Speakers
Joana Branco (Biocant Science Park, Portugal)
Anabel Pérez (INBISTRA)
Angel Lucio (Tetraneuron)
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break, networking and one to one meetings session
11:30 – 12:00 Session 1: Drug Discovery Stories II
Speakers
Roundtable with the 3 speakers of Session 1, moderated by Ignacio Sancho (INBISTRA)
12:00 – 13:15 Presentations of SDDN partners and event sponsors I
13:15 – 14:30 Lunch, networking and one to one meetings session
14:30 – 16:30 Session 2 : Advanced Therapies
Chair: Juan José Lasarte (University of Navarra)
Speakers
Marc Güell (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Pablo Menendez (Instituto Josep Carreras – Sant Joan de Deu Hospital)
Alena Gros (Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology)
Juan José Lasarte (University of Navarra)
16:30 – 18:00 Presentations by SDDN partners and event sponsors II
18:00 – 19:30 Poster session, mentoring and networking in the exhibitors’ area (Coffee and refreshments)
Chair: Rosario Fernández Godino (Medina Foundation)
Accelerate your future: Fast-track mentoring for early-career scientists . Join our fast-track mentoring session to connect for a few minutes with experts from academia and industry, get personalized advice, and accelerate your career with new ideas and connections.
18:30 – 20:00 One-to-one meetings session
20:30 Conference dinner.
9:00 – 10:00 Lessons from Young Leaders in Science and Innovation
A round table with early-career scientists, startup founders, and industry leaders who achieved remarkable success at a young age. Discover the decisions, challenges, and opportunities that shaped their journeys and what you can apply to your own career.
10:00 – 10:30 Oral presentations of the selected posters
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break and one to one meetings session
11:00 – 13:00 Session 3: Target and Biomarker Discovery
Chair:Leire Escudero-Ibarz (AstraZeneca)
Speakers
Julen Oyarzábal (Columbus Venture Partners)
Lorena Boquete (Galaria EPSS)
Luis Serrano (Center for Genomic Regulation – CRG)
Leire Escudero-Ibarz (AstraZeneca)
13:00 – 14:00 Presentations by SDDN partners and event sponsors III
14:00 – 14:30 Closing remarks, poster awards ceremony, and announcement of the SDDN 2027 meeting
14:30 – 15:30 Lunch and networking
La Sesión de Pósteres, Mentoría y Networking en el Hall de Expositores ofrece una plataforma dinámica para que los asistentes interactúen con investigaciones de vanguardia, se conecten con mentores experimentados y amplíen sus redes profesionales. Esta sesión presentará una amplia variedad de pósteres científicos de investigadores emergentes y consolidados en el campo del descubrimiento de fármacos, fomentando un diálogo científico enriquecedor y la colaboración.
Además de explorar investigaciones innovadoras, los participantes tendrán la oportunidad de recibir orientación profesional y perspectivas a través de interacciones informales con líderes de la academia, la industria y el sector regulatorio.
Junto con la exhibición de pósteres de investigación innovadores de científicos en diferentes etapas de su carrera y las interacciones informales, la sesión incluye una actividad de Speed Mentoring diseñada para facilitar conversaciones enfocadas y eficientes en el tiempo entre investigadores en etapas iniciales y profesionales con experiencia. Esta oportunidad de mentoría estructurada permite a los participantes recibir consejos sobre trayectorias profesionales, desafíos de investigación y crecimiento profesional en un entorno de apoyo e informal.
La sesión también impulsa el networking a través de interacciones casuales, permitiendo a los asistentes establecer conexiones, explorar colaboraciones y obtener valiosas perspectivas sobre las tendencias emergentes en el descubrimiento de fármacos. El formato abierto e interactivo fomenta el intercambio interdisciplinario y está diseñado para apoyar tanto a científicos en etapas tempranas como a profesionales consolidados en el avance de su trabajo y en la construcción de vínculos duraderos.
Preside: Ignacio Sancho (INBISTRA)
Translating a breakthrough into a viable asset requires more than just good science; it demands a strategic “de-risking” mindset. This session explores the evolution of the biotech startup, focusing on the transition from academic innovation to investment-ready pipelines. We will dissect the current landscape of early-stage funding, the strategic utility of non-dilutive vs. dilutive capital, and the necessity of aligning preclinical milestones with clinical value inflection points.
Through a lens of operational discipline, we’ll discuss how founders can move beyond the “business plan” to build a dynamic strategic roadmap that survives market corrections and attracts the right partners. Whether you are navigating your first seed round or preparing for an IND, this session provides the playbook for bridging the gap between the bench and the bank.
Preside: Juan José Lasarte, Universidad de Navarra)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the development of new cancer immunotherapies, transforming traditional discovery into a high-precision engineering discipline. By leveraging deep learning and structural bioinformatics, AI allows researchers to navigate the complexity of the immune system with unprecedented accuracy, shifting the paradigm toward highly optimized and personalized therapeutic strategies. A primary application of AI is the design of personalized cancer vaccines. Computational algorithms are now essential for identifying tumor-specific neoantigens and predicting their binding affinity to MHC molecules. This enables the creation of bespoke vaccines tailored to a patient’s unique mutational landscape, maximizing immunogenicity while minimizing off-target effects.
Furthermore, AI is pivotal in the optimization of chimeric receptors for adoptive cell therapies. By refining receptor-antigen interactions and simulating synthetic logic gates, AI helps engineer CAR-T and TCR-T therapies that are more potent and resilient within the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Finally, the design of optimized bispecific antibodies has been significantly accelerated by computational foresight.
This session will address these novel and rapidly evolving fields, which will likely define the development of future, optimized cancer therapies. By integrating computational intelligence into the drug discovery pipeline, we are setting a new standard of care in the global fight against cancer.
Preside: Leire Escudero-Ibarz (AstraZeneca)
The convergence of multi-omic technologies, complex disease models, and artificial intelligence is transforming target and biomarker discovery. This session explores how integrated approaches combining molecular profiling with functional validation in physiologically relevant systems enable identification of therapeutic targets and precision medicine biomarkers. Multi-omic profiling provides an unprecedented resolution of disease biology.
However, extracting actionable insights requires advanced integration strategies. AI and machine learning prioritize targets by identifying convergent evidence across molecular layers and patient data, while CRISPR screening in complex model systems enables functional validation of gene function.
This session will showcase disease-agnostic platforms and methodologies that bridge computational power with experimental validation. By demonstrating the synergy between multiomic integration, AI-driven analytics, and scalable functional genomics, the session will highlight how these approaches are accelerating novel therapeutic discoveries, enabling precision medicine strategies, and ultimately improving patient outcomes across diverse therapeutic areas.
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